New court documents allege that new evidence shows the medical director of the Tarrant County Jail didn't act to prevent the death of a former inmate's baby, who was born in the jail.
A judge had dismissed the case filed by Chasity Congious and her guardian against Dr. Aaron Ivy Shaw back in April of 2023, only allowing the case against Tarrant County to move forward.
In May, county commissioners approved a $1.2 million dollar settlement in the case.
Congious' attorney is now arguing that they've received new evidence showing that Dr. Shaw had knowledge of Congious' risky pregnancy and labor, but didn't help. A judge has ordered to reopen the matter.
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Congious was booked into Tarrant County jail back in 2020, after her family called Fort Worth Police hoping they'd involuntarily commit her to JPS Hospital, out of concerns about self-harm.
Instead, according to court documents, an officer arrested Congious for simple assault.
Congious has an intellectual disability and several mental health diagnoses, including schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, psychosis, mood disorder, and delusions, according to court documents.
According to court records, during a routine pregnancy exam, Dr. Melanie Carter reported that Congious "did not respond to questions, would not be able to express her symptoms, and may not recognize when she went into labor."
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Because of those risks, according to documents, Dr. Carter recommended Congious should be induced but Dr. Shaw did not immediately act.
"The necessary precautions needed to be put into place. And it just simply wasn't," said Congious's attorney, Jarrett Adams.
The documents state that shortly after that checkup with Dr. Carter, Congious's stomach began to hurt after breakfast and she thought she needed to use the bathroom. When that didn't relieve her pain, documents state that she "banged on the window of her cell for help."
Congious' attorney alleges that two correctional officers were supposed to be monitoring Congious, but did not respond to her banging. "As a result, Congious gave birth to her baby girl alone in the cell," the documents state.
One of the correctional officers came into Congious' cell at some point after she delivered her baby and called the paramedics after seeing the blood, according to court documents.
"Tragically, the baby girl was not breathing by that point and had only a faint heartbeat due to the umbilical cord wrapped around her tiny neck," the documents state, adding that the baby, named Zenorah, was taken off of life support 10 days later.
The new evidence, according to court documents, is an email report of inmates in the Female Infirmary sent to Dr. Shaw and others daily.
Congious' portion, according to the documents, stated that she was experiencing abdominal cramps the morning she ended up giving birth. Congious' attorney argues that the email shows that Dr. Shaw knew Congious was experiencing labor contractions before she gave birth.
A U.S. District Judge agreed, writing in his order that when the initial case against Dr. Shaw was dismissed last year, "Congious did not have the new email showing that Dr. Shaw took no action on the day Congious gave birth despite knowing that she was in pain and in labor."
"It just makes sense to give this family the opportunity for justice," Adams said.
Congious now lives with her mother and, her attorney Jarrett Adams said, has been diagnosed with postpartum psychosis. He said she still asks about her baby.
"She's not cognizant about everything, but she knows she should have a baby, a healthy baby, right now," Adams said. "And she's still carrying this Barbie doll around to help her cope."
Adams said Dr. Shaw now has time to respond to the latest ruling to reopen the case.
Adams said they are prepared to take their case to trial but hope to settle.
"It just tears my heart out to think that had there been any parameters in place, had the doctor listened to the OBGYN who says she's not going to be able to tell you that she's having a contraction. That little girl right now would be walking around because she would be a toddler," he said.
Dr. Shaw is being represented by Fort Worth attorney Jordan Parker, who said his firm does not comment on pending litigation.
In a statement emailed to NBC 5, the Tarrant County Sherriff's Office also declined to comment on the litigation.
"We will refrain from comment at this time due to pending litigation; however, we dispute many of the claims made in the lawsuit filed by the Congious family," TCSO said.
